Alyssa Thomas & Brionna Jones
With an offense that ranks in the nation’s top 10 in scoring, field goal percentage and scoring margin, the Terrapins women’s basketball team’s high-powered attack has guided the Terps during their 12-game winning streak.
The team’s 30-16 run to end the first half against Syracuse Thursday night displayed that efficiency. But the No. 6 Terps’ defense during critical moments helped the team beat Syracuse, 77-62, at Comcast Center.
After Orange forward Briana Day hit a pair of free throws to cut their deficit to 10 points with 4:47 left, the Terps switched from a man-to-man defense, which had success in the first half, to a zone. From there, the team conceded only three points for the rest of the game to seal its 13th-straight victory.
“I think they got too comfortable in their man,” Frese said. “We switched to the zone at that time and I thought that helped us in terms of just giving them a different look that they haven’t seen all night.”
The defense was significant right after the opening tip, as well, as the Terps had to overcome an uncharacteristic start on offense against the Orange.
The Terps shot 1-of-9 from the field in the first four-and-a-half minutes, as Syracuse’s zone defense forced the Terps to settle for outside shots. The Orange (12-5, 1-3 ACC) were only 2-of-8 from the field, however, as the Terps’ energy on defense proved stifling.
Guard Shatori Walker-Kimbrough, the Terps’ top scorer off the bench, struggled against the Orange, shooting 4-of-13 from the field, including 0-of-3 from beyond the arc. Instead, her biggest contribution was on the other end, jumping passing lanes to help force turnovers.
“I try to make up for it on defense,” Walker-Kimbrough said. “Coach told me if feel like I can get it, I can shoot the gap. But I know that if I don’t get it my teammates are back there to help me.”
The tight defense meant the Terps (15-1, 3-0) only faced a 5-2 deficit during their early shooting funk. Down 8-12, the team went on a 19-4 in roughly six minutes to take the momentum in the contest. The Orange had 13 first-half turnovers, which led to 22 Terps’ points as they held a 28-42 lead entering the break.
Forward Brionna Jones had ten points in the opening frame of the second half, using her 6-foot-3 frame to muscle for position, grab offensive rebounds and sink put-back layups. Jones finished with a career-high 18 points and 10 rebounds. Her performance, combined with forward Alyssa Thomas’ 19 points and 11 rebounds, keyed a Terps frontcourt that made up for the team’s 14.3 percent shooting from three-point range.
“It makes it really hard for teams to guard us and just to scout us,” Thomas said. “We had so many people getting involved and I think Syracuse really had a tough time on who to key in on.”
Jones’ bucket with 11:40 left in the game gave the Terps a 61-41 lead, but the Orange went on an 18-7 run to slice the lead in half. Like the start of the contest, though, the Terps’ defense shined.
The switch to zone stopped Syracuse from slashing into the paint and helped the Terps on the boards. While the team’s offensive surges played a decisive role in extending its winning streak, the Terps defense ensured they were rarely in jeopardy of losing it.
“We made a lot of plays for each other — help-the-helper type of defense,” Frese said. “Exciting because that’s something we’ve been working extremely hard as a team to be able to see us really connect in that.”
